Defining History

What is history? How is it different from other fields or forms of writing? How is it the same? Take a look
at the following definitions of history. Which ones do you agree with? Underline the best definition of history.

History is…
o a recitation of facts unrelated to a greater story.
o a set of time-honored facts or an eternally established story never subject to modifications and
updates.
o a clear acceptance of what is written about a historical topic, event or person.
o a simple chronology of historical events, dates and people.
o a strict reliance on the past alone without examining how the past has influenced the present or
how it can affect the future.
o about one categorical truth, one particular viewpoint, or one set of facts and figures.
o a sequential storytelling in its finest form; it chronologically interweaves together many related
historical and contemporary events and ideas linked to a broader story.

Go for the last one: History is a sequential storytelling in its finest form; it chronologically interweaves
together many related historical and contemporary events and ideas linked to a broader story.

Here are a few other definitions of history:

 History is interpretative; it encourages students to discuss various viewpoints provide views and
informed interpretations and question current beliefs.
 History is revisionist in scope; it is a constant process of dialogue and re-examination of the past and
deconstructing myths based upon new discoveries, evidence, and perspectives.
 History is a constant process of questioning; it demands that the texts be checked, studied with a
critical eye, and new questions be answered.
 History integrates many disciplines; it mainly integrates geography, literature, art, sociology,
economics, and political science.
 History is inclusive; it ensures the inclusion of the experience of all classes, regions, ethno-racial
groups, and genders.
 History is controversial; it discloses the truth, warts, and all and explores both the negative and
positive actions of the people, allowing us to reflect on social justice and social change and encourage
a real understanding of historical issues and events.
 History incorporates historiography; it comprises many different interpretations of historical events
by various historians.
 History is relevant; it uses experiences of the past to explain what matters in our lives today.
 History is all that's happened to men; all the interactions of men, men's actions, political struggles,
economic organizations, social groupings; all the thoughts of people, good and bad, reasonable and
illogical. In short, it is everything that occurred in man's past.

Some Comments About History

“History is not just a

“Those who cannot
catalogue of events put in
remember the past are
the right order like a
condemned to repeat it.”
railway timetable.”
― George Santayana
— A.J.P. Taylor
 “History is a re-creation
“History is written by the of the past as seen by the
winners.” historians, it is not
―Napoléon Bonaparte objective.”
― Teodoro Agoncillo

“The most effective way

“History will be kind to to destroy people is to
me for I intend to write deny and obliterate their
it.” own understanding of
―Winston S. Churchill their history.”
―George Orwell

“The history of all

"Each one writes history
hitherto existing society is
according to his
the history of class
convenience."
struggles.”
― Jose Rizal
―Karl Marx

“Philippine history has

been conceived within
“Let us study things that
uncritical, linear and
are no more. It is
developmentalist
necessary to understand
framework, an illustrado
them, if only to avoid
legacy that underpins
them.”
even the most anti-
―Victor Hugo
illustrado texts.”
― Reynaldo Ileto

“He who cannot draw on

three thousand years is
“History doesn’t have to
living from hand to
be written by victors.”
mouth.”
― Ninotchka Rosca
―Johann Wolfgang von
Goethe

“History is not merely a

“If we are to make chronology of events; it is
progress, we must not not the story of heroes
repeat history but make and great men.
new history. We must Essentially, history
add to inheritance left by consists of the people’s
our ancestors.” efforts to attain a better
―Mahatma Gandhi life.”
― Renato Constantino
 “As you can see, there
are quite a number of “I like the dreams of the
things taught in school future better than the
that one has to unlearn history of the past.”
or at least correct.” – Thomas Jefferson
– Ambeth Ocampo

“History is facilitated by “A people without the

the formation of a knowledge of their past
discourse of past through history, origin and culture
the production of is like a tree without
narrative.” roots.”
– Gregorio F. Zaide – Marcus Garvey

“Before 1521 we could

have been anything and
“Study the past if you
everything not Filipino;
would define the future.”
after 1565 we can be
― Confucius
nothing but Filipino.”
― Nick Joaquín

"We have a glorious past.

“We are not makers of
Now we must build a
history. We are made by
future worthy of that
history.”
past."
― Martin Luther King, Jr.
― Ramon Magsaysay

Characteristics of a Good Historian

T. Mills Kelly, a digital historian and teacher, suggests the following key traits, skills, or attributes of a good
historian. They are listed below:

1. The ability to tell the difference between a primary and a secondary source.
2. The ability to “source the source”; that is, figure out who created the source when it was created, and
so on.
3. The ability to obtain information about the authority of the source and to assess that authority in light
of other evidence.
4. The ability to set sources in their proper chronological order and understand why ordering is important.
5. The ability to construct an original argument based upon evidence from various sources.
6. The ability to recognize the strangeness of the past without being put off by that strangeness.
7. The ability to make comparative judgments about evidence.
8. The ability to recognize what one does not or cannot know from the evidence at hand.
9. The ability to understand that events are understood differently by different people.
10. The ability to triangulate between and among sources.
11. The ability to ask probing questions—not just what happened, but why did it happen this way and why
didn’t it happen that way?
12. The ability to recognize the role of causality.
13. The ability to critique evidence both on its own terms and in terms of its value to a larger analytical
project.
14. The ability to recognize lines of argument in historical thought.
15. The ability to present the past in clear ways, whether in writing or other media, saying what can be
said and not saying what cannot. (Kelly, 2013)